Firearms on display at a local gun show. In 1994, the Catron county commission voted unanimously to pass a nonbinding resolution stating that every household should possess a firearm and ammunition (...)
for the purpose of home defense. In 2019, the county joined a national movement of so-called “Second Amendment Sanctuaries,” where county commissioners and sheriff’s departments agree not to enforce gun-safety laws.
After a suicide attempt, Rusty Stewart, 47, a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Quemado, was placed under observation at a hospital and told that “people who commit suicide go straight to hell. (...)
” Stewart now uses his position at the pulpit to try to dispel stigma about mental health. “I think most depressed, suicidal people are probably closer to God than most Christians. I know because they’re the ones that are really reaching out for help.”
Hunter Gossett, 19, worked at J&Y Auto with his friend Thane Morgan, a high school student who died by suicide in November 2021. As a survivor of multiple attempts, Gossett is too familiar with the (...)
challenge of suicide. “We will never understand his pain or what he was going through,” Gossett says of Morgan. “He never gave any warning signs or red flags or tells or giveaways —at least that me or anyone else saw—that he was in danger of taking his own life. He seemed like a really happy kid.” All images © Brandon Kapelow.
The town of Glenwood is referred to by locals as ‘Heaven’s Waiting Room’, as more than 65% of the town’s population are over the age of 65. Seniors account for some of the highest risk groups for s (...)
uicide, with individuals over 75 ranking highest among any age group in 2021, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
In the absence of formal behavioral-health resources, churches like the Fence Lake Community Church help people cope with suicidal ideation or grief. “A major part of my ministry—I call it group th (...)
erapy on Sunday morning—is to take out of the Scriptures these verses that build people, lift people,” says Dr. Gary Knouf, a pastor at the Quemado Cowboy Church. “Almost everybody, after they leave Sunday, is full of hope.”
Naomi Lang, 13, with her horse Duchess. Naomi’s father Craig was the closest EMT to the scene when Naomi was accidentally run over by a truck, requiring him to perform life-saving duties on his own (...)
daughter. At a national EMS conference, Craig learned that providing critical care to friends and peers can carry significant risks of developing PTSD. He had to step back from his role as an EMT after developing suicidal thoughts of his own.
Vicki Shriver, 64, the Reserve district EMS medical chief, and her husband Mike Shriver, 70, a pastor and retired state policeman, have both witnessed the shortcomings in their community’s response (...)
to mental health crises. “The public still needs people to be able to respond and be a neighbor,” Vicki says. “We take steps to care for ourselves to survive, honestly, because services have disintegrated.”
Barbara Ohse, 81, a regular at the Glenwood Senior Center, lost her eldest brother to suicide. She is the last alive of her five siblings. The senior center is one of the few dedicated spaces for s (...)
ocial connection for the area’s aging population. “They were going to shut down all the senior centers in Catron County, which, unfortunately, would have probably increased our suicide rate,” says Amy Whetham, the center’s supervisor. “These seniors, it’s the only thing they have.”